"Inglourious Basterds" and "Beginners" made her a star stateside, but it looks like French thespian Melanie Laurent is returning home for her next project. The actress has signed on to Christian Carion's new adaptation of Stefan Zweig's "Letter From An Unknown Woman," a novel that was adapted once before with acclaim by Max Ophuls.
The story follows an author who, while reading a letter written by a woman he does not remember, gets glimpses into her life story. Ophuls' film was led by Louis Jourdan and Joan Fontaine and centered on a pianist protagonist rather than an author. It's not known how faithful Carion's adaptation will be to the novel.
Carion is also currently working on "En Mai, Fais Ce Qu'il Plait" (translated to "In May, Do What You Want To Do") which will be set around the events of May 1940 during World War II when the French were being invaded by the Germans. Carion's story will reportedly center around the ten million French people who "hit the roads to leave their homes, to flee south or west. Abandoned by the public authorities of the time, left to their own devices, they attempted to survive while crossing regions that had returned to the wild."
Before he moves onto that WWII tale, though, Carion will helm the Zweig adaptation this summer. No stranger to big French projects, Carion's previous efforts include "Farewell" starring Guillaume Canet and Emir Kusturica; "Merry Christmas" starring Benno Furmann, Daniel Bruhl, Diane Kruger and Canet again; as well as "One Swallow Brought Spring" starring Mathilde Seigner and Michael Serrault. [Cineuropa]